Shoe-fastening.



PATENTED DEC. 8 1903.

. J. W. P. RUNNING.

' SHOE FASTENING. APPLICATION: FILED r113 1B. 1903.

.10 MODEL.

witnesses.

1 lacing is threaded, while the remainder of the.

UNITED STATES Patented December 8, 1 908.

JOHN W. P. RUNNING, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE-FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 746,280, dated December 8, 1903.

T0 at whoa 1 it may concern: 7

Be it known' that 1, JOHN W. P. BUNNING, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Bos ton, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,haveinvented certain newand use-v ful Improvements in ShOe-Fastenings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. The present invention relates to boots and shoes, and more particularly to that type in which lacings are employed to secure the boot or shoe about the foot and ankle of the wearer.

In shoes adapted for mens wear it is usual to provide the lower part of 'the shoe-upper with a series of eyelets through which the upper is provided with hooks of some kind about which the lacings may be passed in a convenient and expeditious manner, avoiding the delay incident to threading the laces through the eyelets and enabling the wearer to remove the shoewithout removing the lacings from the eyelets. This form of shoe is not adapted for womens wear, for the reason that the drapery composing the skirts and other garments catch in the hooks, rendering walking difficult and injuring or even de stroying the garments. the case of mens shoes hare hooks are objectionable, since they catch in the bottoms of trousers. The object of the present invention is to provide means whereby lacing-hooks may be used along the upper part of the shoe without the use of objectionable projections. A further object of the present invention is to provide a fastener to be used in connection with a lacing or other detachable element, said fastener constituting also one member of a protecting and concealing device.

Further objects will appear in connection with the'following description of my improvement. h

v To the above ends thepresent invention I consists in devices and combinations of dearranged in any suitable manner.

. proved fastening device. may be dispensed with, my fastening device extending clear down. 4

Moreover, even in Application filed February 16 1903. Serial No. 143,508. (No model.)

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view being inposition and the parts interlocked.

verse cross-section one manner in which the fastener and auxiliary flap may be arranged with relation to the parts now employed in the construction of the tops ofshoes. Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing a fragment of a shoe-upper and a modified form of fastener and auxiliary flap.

Similar reference characters will be used to. denote and indicate like parts throughout the specification and drawings.

A designates a laced shoe of any ordinary form, having an opening in the front thereof extending from the top of the shoe-down through the upper, andA and A are the meeting flaps of the shoe-upper. Eyeletsa are provided for a portion.of the length of the opening, and these eyelets may be of any preferred or desired construction and may be Above the instep I employ instead of the eyelets my im- In carrying out, my invention it is desired to retain all the advantages which obtain in the use of the old form of hooks, obviating,

however, the objections previously noted.

The present invention consists, therefore, in the employment of fastening-hooks, together with means for covering or concealing said hooks in such a manner that it shall be impossible for any piece of wearing-apparel to become entangled therein.

In the preferred form of my invention the outer flap and has for itsontermost surface preferably the leather ofihe. shoe upper. B is the inner flap and may consist of one or more pieces of leather or other material securely fastened to the shoe-upper and hav-.

ing its outer edges coextensive with the corresponding edges of the shoe-upper. g

It is on the flaps B that modified forms I) of the ordinary lacinghooks are arranged.

If desired, eyelets a Fig. 3 is an enlarged view showing in transgagement and lock the two flaps B and B together, uniting them in this manner, so as to present the appearace of a single flap only.

In Figs. 3 and t I have illustrated several ways in which the complementary flaps may be constructed and also several modified forms of fastening-hooks.

In Fig. 3 the flaps B and B are shown as being composed of five parts, the flap B comprising the upper-leather 1 and a piece of finishing-leather 2, and the flap B consisting of two pieces of leather or other material 4 and 5, having between them the shoe-lining 3. The elements 2, 4, and 5 may be narrow strips of leather or other material an inch or so in width and fastened securely along the edges of the opening in the shoe-upper. Although the element-s 2, 4, and 5 are shown as being narrow strips, it is of course understood that the dimensions maybe varied in any manner which may be deemed desirable, as the specific manner of forming the flaps depends largely on the character of the shoe to which my improvements are applied.

The fastener 19 (illustrated in Fig. 3) consists of a body portion b, a hook or projection b and a head 12 The body portion b may be in the shape of a frustum of a cone, having mounted thereon a washer b, which is of such a diameter as to leave sufficient space between it and the hook I) for the passage of the shoe-lacing when the washer has been slid along the body of the fastener as far as it will go. The fastener may be riveted to the flap B, pressing the material of the flap tightly between the washer and riveted portion 12 The flap B is provided with an eyelet,which constitutes the member adapted to engage the head I) in order to lock the two flaps together. As shown, this eyelet is contained within theinner strip of material 2, which is made of sufficient thickness to allow secure connection to be made between the eyelet and the fastening-hook. This construction provides a perfectly plain external surface from the instep upward.

The largest diameter of the head b is made slightly greater than the smallest diameter of the eyelet 0, so that upon the application of a slight pressure the two complementary parts will snap together and will be held in such position until a pull is applied.

While I have shown shoulders on the head 3 and within the eyelet 0, yet I do not limit myself to this construction, since any form of fastener now in use may be applied. Also the necessary resiliency in the parts of the fasteners may be provided for by any of the Well-known methods.

In Fig. 41 have shown another modification, in which the flap B consists of asingle piece of material--namely,th at of the shoe-upperwhile the flap B is made in the same manner as that shown'in Fig. 3.

The hook member of the fastening consists of the body portion b the hook b which may be inclined, as shown, a socket b and the washer b the fastener being secured in place by passing the body portion thereof through the material of the flap and riveting it, as at b, pressing the material of the flap firmly against the washer b. A slit 19 may be cut through the socket and into the body portion to provide for a greater resiliency.

The complementary member of the fastening device is provided in this case with a shouldered head or ball instead of the eyelet shown in Fig. 3 and is secured to the flapB in any suitable manner, the head engaging the socket b of the hook member.

By using the arrangement shown in Fig. 3 the top portions of the shoe-upper flaps are left entirely plain, as shown in Fig. 2. In Fig. 4, however, I have shown the element 0 provided with an ornamental button or other design 0 which is arranged on the exterior of the flap and which may also serve to hold this element of the fastening device in position.

It will now be seen that the present invention provides a cheap and efficient means for employing the ordinary form of lacing-hook, but in such a manner that there remains no objectionable projection above the surface of the united parts.

The strain is all borne by the lacing and the hook member, so that it is unnecessary to provide a very strong, and therefore a very expensive, arrangement for holding the fiap B in place to cover the hooks.

While I have described and illustrated my invention in connection with laced shoes, yet I do not Wish to be understood as limiting myself in the application thereof to boots and shoes only, since it may well be employed in connection with gloves or, in fact, in connection with the fastening together of any two meeting edges where it is desired to form a detachable connection which may be rapidly manipulated and in which it is necessary that there should be no objectionable protuberances or projections.

Having described my invention, I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. A fastener comprising hooks, a lacing to engage said hooks, and a detachable covering for the hooks, whereby a smooth surface is obtained, substantially as described.

2. A fastener member comprising a body portion, means for securing it in position, a

stantially as described. h

4. Means for fastening together the meet-' ing edges of two parts, which consists in forming two flaps at each of such edges, hook members for receiving a lacing on one set of flaps, locking elements on said hooks and complementary elements on the second set of flaps for detachably locking said hook members and flaps together, substantially as de scribed.

5. Ashoe,having in combination, an upper,

the opposing edges of which are provided with-two flaps, hooks on the inner set of flaps for receiving a lacing and means for detacbably locking the outer flaps to the inner flaps, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature '25 in presence of two witnesses.

J. W. P. BUNNING. Witnesses:

WM. F. FREUDENREICH, MARY A. KENNEY. 

